Hearts of Glass
by Closet Creature
Summary: Years into the future of the Loud house, after Lincolns disappearance, he is found. But after being missing for so long, is he even the same person his family once knew? Can he ever hope to re adjust back to his normal life? Will he be able to help his family mend from the trauma? Or will it all fall flat? Rated M for mature themes.
1. Hearts of Glass: The Missing Piece

**Hello everyone, I just wanted to give a quick thanks to anyone who took the time to read through this story, and I want to say that any criticism of any aspect that people think I can improve in would be greatly appreciated. To any of you who go out of your way to give me pointers on how to craft a better story or even a small grammatical or spelling error and everything in between, Thank you so much!**

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 **Chapter 1: The Missing Piece**

It was mid December in the small town of royal woods. Two officers in a black and white police cruiser were parked in a small hidden corner near the highway, ready to catch any unsuspecting speeders going down the road so they could fill their monthly quota of tickets issued, along with leaving the radio on to accept any calls that may come in, as there were not a lot of people out and about this late at night to give tickets to, as people did not usually like driving late at night in the snow no less. As the snow continues to fall down and cascade the streets and houses of the small town, boredom slowly crept into the two of the officers that were staking out nothing but the steady gently pelting of the snow to the area around.

After moments of enduring the great mental battle of patience, they finally succumbed to their own mediums of entertainment to occupy their minds from their mundane task. The first officer cracking her window slightly, as to not let all the hot air circulating the car from the heater to escape in mass, followed up with lighting her cigarette whilst taking out her phone to scroll through her multiple social medias, trying to get her fix of entertainment as most people do when they have nothing better to do.

As the first of the two partners proceeded to enjoy herself, the second finally caved into boredom and cracked out her own phone along with a pair of earbuds she kept in her pocket, after doing so, she proceeded to plug into her phone and tune out her surroundings to enjoy some of her favorite artists. After a few minutes of this, the first officer being on her third cigarette, and the second officer being on her fifth song in an album she was trying to get through broke from her trance after getting a nice whiff of smoke from the firsts cigarette.

Agitated that her partner was not even attempting to blow the window anymore decided to give her a small glare of annoyance, which immediately melted off as she noticed she had no longer been scrolling through social media, and instead had an old photo out, the picture depicted an infant with a full head of brown hair swaddled in a blanket being cradled by a very young blond girl staring lovingly into the eyes of the baby, as it smiled back while grabbing a finger the girl offered for the infant, the picture seemed warn over the years, with watermarks that seem to have been made very recently.

As the second partner took her gaze off of the photo she razed her head slightly to see her pinching the bridge of her nose with her left hand, cigarette still in hand, with the embers burning down all the way to the light brown bud letting of a dying glow from the embers.

"Well find him Lori...we will" said the second officer with a sincere and caring tone

"*Sigh* I know Luna, I just miss the little guy." Replied the first officer, after which, there was silence between the two.

After a few moments, Lori sighed and put the photo and wallet away in her pocket. After few more moments of silence, the two were broken from their trance while staring out the front window, and shifted their gaze toward the small receiver.

"Any available units, we have a report of a noise complaint in the north west area of royal woods" Lori took the opportunity to get out of the awkward silence to be able to drive around.

"Hello, this is officer Loud." Lori said into the microphone end of the receiver "we are in the area and free to take this one. Just give us the address and well be on our way." In response to Loris answer to the call, the operator gve the two the address, and with that, they went of to the location.

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Ten minutes after answering the request to go check up on a house due to a noise complaint, they had arrived to the place they were looking for. They noticed a single vehicle parked in the driveway facing outward, it was a red SUV that seemed to have been purchased recently, due to the temporary license sticker on the front slot where a permanent plate would go. The car sat on an extra large driveway that lead up to a two door garage on its right side, with a paved sidewalk that broke from the driveway half way through that curved into the porch of the cozy abode.

The house itself was a painted a light shade of red that spanned all around the exterior, as to keep a similar color scheme with the neighborhood that were all painted light colors as well. The house itself also continued the trend of the entire neighborhood with a unified look of typical town house, with the roofs that arched up from both sides of the house that connected on the small porch. There was also many windows throughout the walls of the house.

There was nothing particularly abnormal about the house in question, nothing from the garbage can left outside awaiting to be whisked away by the garbage men early in the morning, from the freshly blanketed snow that covered the lawn, to the very house that seemed to have no one stirring inside. The lights were off, there was no noise, and there was only a single thing off about the whole ordeal, and it was that Lori and Luna were called to deal with a noise complaint, and noise complaints are usually due to noise neighbors that call due to either loud music blaring to such a degree that the neighbors could hear it, or even the roaring between two having a heated argument, with yelling, cursing, an sometimes even breaking things included, as the two Louds could attest to.

"Is this the right place?" Lori said with a hint of confusion while staring at the house, taking in every detail she could of the beautiful house .

"I don't know dude, I mean its where the chick on the radio told us to go." Replied Luna with just as much confusion and amazement in her eyes as she also surveyed the house.

"Well I guess lets give them a warning since they seem like they already seemed to stop, too bad, I was hoping to have an interesting night." Lori said, this time with a hind of disappointment.

" *Sigh* Lets get on it then." Stated Luna with a monotone voice lacking amusement.

The two then proceeded to step out of the police cruiser and approach the front door, paying no mind to the fact that they were stepping over the lawn instead of the designated path paved for foot traffic, leaving behind a trail of snowy boot prints on the grass in their wake. Once they did reach the front door, Lori took the initiative and knocked on the door firmly, announcing their presence in the front door.

 **Knock Knock Knock**

No answer, after a few moments of waiting exposed to the elements, the two louds decided to knock again, this time louder than before to make sure that the residents couldn't pretend they didn't hear.

 **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Again, no answer after waiting a few moments. Now the pair were getting agitated that this was becoming more complicated than before. Now breaking away from the front porch, they both looked at one another in silent agreement to snoop around the house to find out why there wasn't any response to the door. Luna took off silently around the right side of the house past the garage, while lore snuck herself around the left side, careful to not let the crunching of the snow beneath her feet sound off loud enough to let anyone know of her presence.

As she proceeded to slink around, she passed an outdoor AC unit, it didn't do much to mask the sound of Loris boots planting onto the snowy ground beneath her. As she continued, she passed by multiple windows, some very low to the ground seemingly covered up for privacy, along with windows too high to see without a stepping stool, until she made her way past one, which she curiously peeked into, stopping her in her tracks as she took in the sight in the darkness of the dimly lit house. In what seemed to be the living room, a body laying on her side facing the opposite direction of the window, while also laying in a pool of crimson that surrounded it.

Lori took a moment to take in what shed seen, and snapped herself out of her little trance, proceeding by unholstering it and aiming slightly lower than straight ahead as she continued around the rest of the house. As Lori turned the corner, spotting Luna waiting for her next to a door that served most likely as a backdoor entrance to the house, Luna Looked at Lori and confusion and concern as she noticed the unholstered weapon in her hands. Luna immediately drew her own gun as her partner approached with a serous look on her face. Lori then spoke.

"Luna, we need to call for backup, I think I saw a dead body!" Lori hissed out as silently as she could considering what was at stake.

Luna nodded and leaned into her walkie-talkie while grasping it with her left hand.

"Officer Loud, reporting in to base, requesting immediate backup and ambulance, we have a possible homicide, no culprit yet." After a moment of radio silence, there was a muffled voice that responded through the static.

"Backup heading your way in 5 minutes"

After hearing the operator respond with the news that help was on the way, Lori and Luna proceeded to the back door to test if it was open, it was.

"Huh...these small town folk never do learn to lock up at night do they." Lori said with a huff of disapproval "They aught to know better then to trust strangers." She said whispering to herself with a somber tone, all while proceeding in with her gun at the ready to deal with any threat as they went through the halls that the back door lead into.

" *Blegh* What's that smell?" Luna questioned as they came closer and closer t what was emitting the overwhelmingly intoxicating smell of iron in the air. She found her answer as the two stumbled upon what made the smell wafting through the air, it was the body Lori spotted through the window from the outside. It was the body laying down on its chest, now so close for them to appreciate that they could literally smell it. It was a woman in a previously all white dress that draped her figure from her shoulders down to her knees, with a brilliantly stitched floral pattern that ran all throughout the dress that was now tainted a deep black, most likely red though, just a dark color due to the lack of proper lighting.

Even with it being as dark as it was, the woman's beauty was still clearly noticeable, with smooth milky porcelain flesh, that seemed pale in the moonlight, and cute little facial features such as her small nose, and rosy lips left slightly open, and pale blue eyes frozen in fear staring up at the two officers. Lori and Luna were feeling sick at the sight, because the worst part about it was the body seemed to be that of a little girl, only about the age of one of their own siblings. Luna threw up in a nearby corner whilst Lori stood gagging into her arm fighting the urge to release the contents from her stomach due the mix of the stench of Lunas vomiting and from the sickening sight laying bare before them.

After a getting it out of their system and re composing themselves, Lori went ahead and checked to see any pulse on the corpse laying in front of her, though she knew there wouldn't be one all the while hearing a distant siren that got louder and louder until they were on the house, flashing blinding lights of blue and red through the windows in the front of the house that disturbed the natural darkness throughout the house. Taking the excuse to exit the room, the two made their way as quickly and cautiously as possible to the front door to greet the backup. As they exited through the front door, they were met with two officers scurrying up to the porch to group up with the two Louds as a two paramedics stood on stand by next to their truck parked next to both cop cars.

"Officer Louds! My name is officer Pegg and this is my partner officer Frost. We came here on a report of a possible homicide." Said officer peg with a serous face. His partner only standing beside him reflecting his serous demeanor only with a little more concern

"Y-Yes, that's right. There is one body, minor indications of a struggle, but nothing aside from that, we haven't finished clearing the house just yet. So lets do so." Lori stated, still not completely composed from the sight from before.

"Of course officer Loud." Responded officer Pegg with a determined voice.

After the conversation finished, the four officers went room by room with the Louds turning on the lights, to each room, fining nothing abnormal about each one. They went on, finding two bedrooms, one clearly a boys, with walls painted blue, filled with posters of horror movies, comics, a game console hooked up to a rather large TV that stood on a dresser facing a bed, along with another room next to it, that only seemed to contrast is, completely painted pink, with posters of boybands, and a tv jut as big as the one before sitting on a dresser that seemed exactly the same as the one before, one master bedroom with a grand king sized bed that layed on what seemed to be a hand carved wooden frame, with two regular nightstands on either side of the bed with one lamp on each side, again, with another dresser on the opposite wall in the room. with a door that lead to a master bathroom, complete with a huge jacuzzi bath, sink, bathroom, and bidet.

They continued their search all way to the kitchen, not sharing a word once they found the body again. The two unsuspecting officers only jolted at the sight and felt shivers go down their spine, while the two Louds only flinched at the sight, as now it could be seen clearly with the lights on, blood pooled at a greater volume then before, yet nothing else changed, but now with the lights on, there was something that wasn't seen before, blood splattered on a wall with a small black hole in the wall, with a trail of blood that went off down the hall with the back door that they haven't gotten to checked yet.

The four officers, guns in hand, started trailing the steady trail of blood drops that lead to a single metal door that was left slightly ajar, to which the first two officers peeked into, immediately pulling away gagging and tearing up at whatever they saw. peaking curiosity, or horror, the louds took their turn to peek, only for a moment, and that was all they needed. The smell was horrendous, but it paled in comparison to what they saw.

The first noticeable thing was the low hanging florescent light that served as the only light source in the room, as the basement windows were boarded up with wood planks and wrapped with cloth, and not to far from it was a bucket, which wouldn't have been that bad if it didn't seem like it was overflowing with what could only be made out to be sludge as a byproduct of urine and feces that threatened to topple over any second, on the opposite side of the room, a pair of decrepit bunk beds, that seemed to be far past metal and just rust at this time, with the most unsightly thing being two body's, one of which was a woman, wearing a plain yellow sundress with black heals, her face was indescribable as it seemed to be smashed in with a blunt object, all the way down to her chin, leaving an ocean of blood and chunks of tissue in it, being brain tissue or other, the other body having a similar affliction, having his skill caved in but not obliterated like the other, to the point that you could at least tell weather he had a beard and was bald or not, which he had a full head f black hair, along with a scruffy looking beard, with his own ocean of crimson to mix with the others as it stained his plain white button down shirt, but not making it all the way to his khaki pants or black dress shoes, and finally tying it all together, was an old rusty chair that sat under the hanging florescent light with different bindings attached to it, such as handcuffs, rope, and even a bit of barbed wire that seemed rusted or maybe tainted with blood, with a small stand filled with different tools such as plyers, wire cutters, scissors, drills, whips, and possibly worst of all a cigar cutter, of course all nice and bloody, as if they've seen much use in their lifetimes, but not for their intended use. Lori then proceeded to pull away and lose the lunch she fought so hard to keep earlier, while Luna proceeded to do the same with whatever little she had left in her stomach.

The four officers sat in silence and disbelieve of the morbid sight, until Lori finally built up the courage to persist and pried the door open, catching the attention of the three others with her, they decided to follow the example and follow Lori down into the basement shadowing her footsteps to give her support should they need into the room was worse than just peering into it, as the stench of blood and human waist beat at everyone's noses while the cold of an uninsulated room in December chilled them to the bone almost as bad as the conditions outside, as they stepped down to the bottom step of the flight of creaky wooden steps Lori stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed fidgeting of a figure in a dark end of the room, noticing this Lori immediately aimed her gun toward the figure and barked orders at it.

"HEY, YOU! GET UP AND SLOWLY TURN AROUND WITH YOURE ARMS UP!" Lori yelled at the figure that continue to fidget with something in its arms. The other officers taking notice and readying their own weapons at the possible hostile target.

"I SAID GET THE FUCK UP!" Lori reiterated, this time the figure obliged, seemingly placed what seemed to be a small body down and standing with his arms half up.

"good...Now turn around and walk!" Lori called out with less hostility yet keeping the firmness in her voice. The figure obliged and stepped forward with its arms up, slapping its bare feet on the cold concrete floor whilst shambling closer and closer to the light, until it was standing in the light, while having their toes dipped into the pools of read accumulating on the floor, the officers practically stumbled over themselves at the sight. It was a boy, so young looking that it was clear that he wasn't even an adult yet, but still almost the same height as Luna, yet still looking small, he was in a disgustingly emaciated state with scars plastered all over his body, seemingly head to toe.

His own flesh was hugging his bones so tightly as if to show there was no fat nor muscle underneath, just bone, and his bones practically prodding through his pale skin in every single square inch they could see, each individual joint could be seen on his feet, the exact length of his legs being able to be mentally measured through the lack of any tissue, all the way to his sunken belly that seemed to hide itself under the his ribcage that you didn't even have to look so closely to be able to count each individual rib, his arms practically skeletal, almost looking as if he was a rotting corpse already persisting past his neck which had a freshly bleeding wound oozing blood ever so lightly, up to his face with his salt and pepper looking hair that clearly was once a full head of brunette hair that draped over a majority of his face, but not over his sunken in cheeks that clearly showed his jawline to his half opened mouth that clearly displayed his prominent buckteeth with a chipped piece.

Lori and Luna looked on in horror of the state of this boy, so much so that they couldn't even notice they were shaking profusely through their watery eyes as they lowered their weapons, noticing this, one of the other two decided to take the lead on the conversation side in the stead of Lori.

"Boy, can you tell us you're name?" Officer Pegg asked in a much more compassionate tone then that of Loris a few seconds ago.

"M-My name... is Lincoln Loud" The boy barely choked out through a raspy whisper.

Lori and Luna dropped their pistols and practically stumbled themselves over to the boy ignoring the fact that they stepped and sloshed through the pool of blood that would be evidence later on while ignoring the warning of the other two officers who stayed back to be careful.

"L...Lincoln? I-Is that r-really you?" Lori said practically bending over to try to look into his eyes. Lincoln only bringing his gaze up from the floor slightly to asses the two approaching him by looking at their faces, going wide eyed in the process.

"Lory?...Luna?..." Lincoln choked out but this time with what sounded like hope

"Lil bro...I-Its us...Its your big sisters..." Lori choked out herself through her cracking voice. "We f-finally found y-you..." Lune continued with more cracks in her voice while bringing her right hand up to Lincoln's scarred cheek to caress it.

"Is...Is this a dream?" Lincoln whispered while bringing his hands to feel Lori and Luna to feel if they were really there.

"No Linc, its really us...Were here...we found you." Lori responded to Lincoln bringing him close for a hug which he immediately buried his head into their shoulders as they stood side by side. Lori and Luna wrapping their long lost little brother into a hug as he silently wheezed and choked half cries into their collective shoulders, not caring about the fact that they were practically grabbing a skeleton, not caring about the things they saw, things they smelt, things they felt, of even what they were standing on, all they cared about was the fact that after what felt like a lifetime, they finally have the most important thing in their lives back, Lincoln.

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 **Hello again, I just wanted to thank you all again for reading through the story, and I would love to know if you loved or hated it, and if possible why you loved or hated it so I can learn what I'm doing right and wrong, because I truly want to be able to improve my skills as a writer, and I can only do so if people tell me my strengths and weaknesses, and even to tell me that maybe I messed up somewhere with spelling or something that I can edit and fix real quick. Also I hope that the fact that this was so short doesn't bother too many people, I do intend on making future chapters longer, I just wanted to play with an idea that's been bouncing in my head for some time. Again, thank you all again for you're time and dedication to reading my fic!**


	2. Hearts of Glass: Almost Home

**Hello again everyone** **Wow I took a while on this chapter, I am really sorry about that. I've been swamped with work in school, senior year is definitely something I gotta play catch up in. But the reasons I took so long with this one, is well, I like to think and come up with many different ides for my story, as its too late to change anything after I post the chapter, so I want to make sure I can give the most creative and enjoyable story I can, even if it takes me a while to post (sorry about that). I've actually re written this chapter 4-6 times now I think, adding, cutting and changing things I thought did and didn't work, I really hope it shows in the chapter but that's for you guys to decide, because even after like 3 or 4 months of work, I'm still not 100% satisfied with this chapter, and I thought if I'm not happy with it now, I honestly never will be so I decided to post it and see what you guys think, I genuinely hope you enjoyed it, and if not, please let me know, I really wanna make this into a story as many people can enjoy, and without further ado, here is the second chapter.**

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 **Chapter 2: Almost Home**

Lincoln had lost count of the hours that had gone by since he first made it to the hospital, and now, he finally has time to be able to lay back and relax, even if he is hooked up to more wires than he can count, leading to multiple machines, he wasn't complaining, it was nice to him. Since the moment he came through the emergency room doors, he practically faced an onslaught of doctors and tests practically probing him, questions, CT scans, bloodwork's, urine tests, mental evaluations, and the list went on and on, and after all that, they couldn't really find anything immediately life threatening to him, not even the fresh wound on his neck which they used some basic disinfectant and bandages to wrap it up, along with just being severely malnourished and dehydrated.

It wasn't really hard on Lincoln, more of a growing annoyance, as he continued to deal what felt like a small army of psychologists and psychiatrists constantly giving him more physical and mental evaluations his patience was about gone until now, when the doctors deemed it necessary for him to be able to take in IV fluids to help with his dehydration. Finally, he had a moment alone to himself, well, as alone as you could be with someone practically shadowing you the whole time. The officer wasn't really too intrusive though, he mostly stayed out of the way a majority of the time, even now he kept out of Lincolns way, sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room from him, silently observing, which he didn't mind and just ignored.

Lincoln wouldn't be bothered by him one bit if he didn't try to cut in casual talk every few moments. He could appreciate the fact that the officer would try to lift the awkward atmosphere whenever he could, but it was more of a bother than anything, even so, he still responded with short statements such as "Yes sir, no sir, and ok." As to not be rude even though his voice was a little pained and raspy whenever he spoke leaving him barely audible. The officer seemed to be middle aged by the wrinkles on his face, and the small bags under his eyes, he was also Caucasian, and seemed to be putting on a little weight, he was also balding on the top of his head with the remaining hair already grey, yet he still looked like he is in good enough shape that he could chase someone down for miles if need be. Though Lincoln tried to avoid speaking as much as he could, mostly because he didn't like speaking to strangers much, he seemed to crack out of his shell a little more each time the officer spoke to him, mostly carrying on in one sided conversations, the officer noticed this, and continued every so often. The officer would speak talk about many things, his family, where he was from, his life on the task force, drawing Lincoln into a conversation a little more each time. After a few more stories, he finally cracked and started to open up to the man.

"So back in my squad car days, it would get really slow in some small towns, and being such a generous person I would often offer to go ahead and drive the new convicts down to the state prison, it wasn't that far out of town, only about an hour or so. But anyway, I would usually do it because I was always interested in what they would have to say, or what they would do, and there was this one guy ill never forget." He chuckled after the last bit, causing Lincoln to stair on at him in curiosity. "Alright so I was driving this man once, a little fat and older fella, and let me tell you, he was the worst. He would not shut up about how he didn't do it. He was wailing in the back seat saying it wasn't him, crying and practically snotting all over the place. Not too long into the ride he actually started to kick the back of my seat, like a fussy lil baby, can you believe that! Full grown ass man throwing a tantrum like a child, but anyway, I told him that he needed to stop or I was gonna have to taze him, so he stopped and having exhausted all his option, he starts crying for his mama. He goes "MAMA, it's all a big mistake! It wasn't me!" honestly, some people go crazy when they think its all over and even start believing the lies they tell others, but they caught him red handed, stabbing his poor wife. Then he sits in my car and screams bloody murder it wasn't him. can you believe that shit!" He ended with a chuckle along with Lincoln. After a moment for their shared laugh, the man spoke again.

"So Lincoln, you don't mind me calling you by you're name, do you?" The man asked.

"No sir." Lincoln whispered out of his hoarse throat.

"Great! Then how about you call me John." He exclaimed with some excitement.

"Ok...John." Lincoln hesitantly said bashfully.

"So Lincoln, I could go on and on about how awesome my life is, but what about you? I'm a bit more interested in finding out about you, why don't ya tell me a little bit bout yourself?"

"um...sure...w-what do you want to know?"

"Well, how about your interests, what hobbies did you have?"

"I used to love to read my favorite comic series, Ace Savvy, he was the cools superhero ever. I also loved going down to the arcade and playing video games with my friends." Lincoln seemingly lit up as he listed off his past hobbies and enjoyments. "And hanging out with my best friends, they were the best friends someone could ask fore..." Lincoln ended with bittersweet expression.

"Well, you know ya might be able to see them soon."

"Yeah, I might." Lincoln said almost dismissively

"What about your family? can you tell me about them?" Lincoln froze at the request, getting a response of concern from John "Lincoln? Are you alright?"

"I...I cant even tell you what they look like...I don't even remember what they look like..." Lincoln replied in a deadpan tone "I have missed out on so much of their life..."

"How long has it been since you've seen them?"

"I don't even know...I think it might be 4 years now..."

"How can you tell?"

"A while...A long while" Lincoln turned his head to look out if the nearby window. "The snow... it had been snowing a little while before I saw them last. I wonder hat they would say if they saw me now... or if they would even care about seeing me..."

"Why would you think that Lincoln?"

"Because I was awful to them, ide only ever been selfish with them...All I've ever done is hurt and take advantage of those who called me a brother, a son." Lincoln broke from his statement to take a moment to cover his face to hide the tears trickling down his face. "How could they even care for me after all that I've done...they hate me...They have to hate me...I don't deserve anything but their hate. All I've ever done is manipulate and take advantage of them. What do I have left...the people who have gotten close to me have been hurt...and...and worse...why does everyone I love leave me?"

"I know the pain you're going through right now Lincoln. I've lost someone very close to me too. many years ago, I lost my wife." Lincoln looked up to Angel who only looked down to him with compassion in his eyes. "Ill never forget it, I was sitting at my desk, filling out a report, when I received the call. The hospital called me to tell me that she had been in an accident, some drunk driver in a semi had crashed into her head on. She died instantly, the person I loved most in this world was taken from me, for no good rhyme or reason, by some idiot making a foolish decision. I was devastated by this, I fell into a dark place in my life, butt I had people to rely on. My friends and family helped me through those times, and I eventually got over her death, and now I've seen someone else, and I even have a little girl. but the point is, you need to rely on those close to you, and you Lincoln, you do have people to depend on. Your family loves you, they have missed you for the longest time, and I'm sure that a reunion with you will bring nothing but love for the long lost brother and son that has been missing from their lives." John got up and sat next to Lincoln on the bed and laid his hand on his shoulder never breaking his gaze. "I promise you."

"I told them I hated them...That they weren't my family...Why would they forgive me?" John only chuckled at this which made Lincoln scowl.

"Hehe...Lincoln, you don't understand how much someone would forgive for the people they love...and-"John opened his mouth to add something but silenced himself to the sound of stomping feet coming from the door." and...if you don't believe me...why not ask them yourself?" John ended as he got off the bed and took his spot near the corner of the room where he sat before. Not even half a moment later slight yelling and louder stomping could be heard until the doors suddenly busted open to reveal the people storming through the hospital. A set of voices could clearly be heard now through the opened door.

"Dad please! This is a hospital, you cant be running through here!"

"Cmon pops just wait a sec-"

"IVE WAITED FOUR YEARS, IVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH! WHERE IS HE!? LINC-" The voice of the rugged man cut off as he entered the room and glanced at Lincoln sitting on his bed, immediately three sets of foot steps followed in to the room.

"SWEETIE ITS US ITS-" Another more feminine voice was cut off as she entered the room behind the first man and caught a sight of Lincoln. Another pair of steps came in behind them and went silent after seeing the expressions of shock on the older man and woman. For moments nothing but silence followed as the first two to enter the room practically surveyed the Loud on the stretcher, taking notice of how poor the condition he looked to be in, every scar on his tiny frail looking body, along with the cover that practically covered his face that was no longer the pure brunette brown it once was but the mix of that and white that almost overpowered the previous color. The silence continued until emotion finally took the two to arrive to the room first, the two practically stumbled over their own feet as they approached him.

"Oh my god...Lincoln...My little baby...what happened to you?" The woman said as she dropped to her knees next to the boy. The man knelt down next to the woman and looked up to Lincoln, taking a much closer look at his face, and Lincoln doing the same to his parents who stood under him. He was speechless to see how drastically different the two looked from before, his parents looked as if they had aged a decade, wrinkles under their brows, heavy bags under their eyes, profound smile lines on their cheeks, and patches of grey in both of their heads of hair, But in comparison to Lincoln they seemed to barely age at all. Breaking the silence Lincoln spoke up while keeping eye contact with both.

"Mom...D-Dad?" Lincoln choked out with slight happiness in his voice.

"Lincoln..." They both responded in unison as they brought him into a tight hug between the three of them. Rita and Lynn broke down and sobbed uncontrollably over the son they had lost, holding him as if they would lose him again if they'd ever let go. After a few moments went by of the three hugging out the pent up pain of the past four years, the two why practically cried their eyes out finally found the strength to compose themselves.

"Son...were so so sorry about all this." Lynn sr said in a heart felt plead

"Its not your fault dad, nobody knew this was coming."

"No Lincoln...not just that...We should have been there for you more...We should have been better parents to you...and we neglected you." Lynn sr took Lincolns hand in his own and Rita did the same. "But I swear we will do everything possible in this earth to change. we will be the parents you deserve."

"I thought you hated me."

"Oh my baby...we could never hate you, you are our son, no matter what, nothing you do could change that." In response, Lincoln only looked down with tears now welling in his eyes.

"I thought...nobody cared about me...I thought."

"Lincoln never ever think that. You are our son you hear me, and we love you, you hear?" Lynn sir said pushing up on Lincolns chin to look him in the eye "Because you are our boy, and we will always be your parents." Lincoln leaned forward into another hug with his parents, the hug lasted a while with nobody willing to pull away from the much needed hug with one another, it was only interrupted when a doctor came in seemingly distracted with the contents on a clipboard with an amused expression, he looked up and too his surprise was an a room full of people which he did not expect to be there, along with the boy who he had been reading up on the moment he heard of such a unique case in the hospital.

"Um, MR. and MSS. Loud is it? My name is DR. Hernandez and I am the doctor overlooking Lincolns recovery." He said with a bit of enthusiasm in his voice as he held his hand out to shake the parents hands.

"Oh, hello. Its nice to meet you." Lynn sir said as he shook the doctors hand, slightly cringing at how surprisingly cold it was, then allowing Rita to shake his hand.

"Yes its nice to meet you too, I have a few questions about his medical records along with his familial medical records, and I have a few things I need you two to sign"

"Oh um, we don't really have the answers to his medical familial medical records on hand, but we can find out later today, but the papers we can sign no problem" Rita replied to the Doctors chipper tone.

"Great, now if you two could just come with me and we can fill out the paper work at my office." The Doctor said motioning to the door while waiting for the two to get up and follow him which they did, leaving Lincoln with his sisters and the officer. An awkward silence lingered in the room till John sighed and pushed himself out of the chair he was sitting in.

"Well enough of this, imma go out for a quick smoke Louds, its clear you all got some talking to do." Before anyone could say anything, he had left leaving the door to shut itself, and now the three of them were there trying to find anything to say to lighten the mood.

"...So...You guys are cops now huh?" Lincoln asked shyly

"Uh yeah...we uh...we thought wed join to uh... in the hopes we might find you" Lori replied Gingerly

"Well...Looks like it all turned out the way you guys hoped, hehe." Lincoln Laughed awkwardly trying to lighten the mood which only seemed to make Lori more uncomfortable with the situation

"N-not quite..."

"What do you mean Lori? What's wrong?"

Lincoln...Lincoln im sorry...I was never there for you."

"W-what are you talking about Lor-"

"Lincoln, I was not a good sister to you...I've failed you, as your sister, I was supposed to be there for you, I was supposed to be there for you to help you with your problems, I was supposed to be more caring to you, I was supposed to be more patient for you, I was supposed to be so much more than I was, I've failed you Lincoln...and If I didn't fail you in every way possible then maybe none of this would have ever happened...please forgive me Lincoln, forgive me for being such a shitty sister to you." Lori was now down on her hands and knees next to her brother practically begging for forgiveness from the brother she had felt she had been insufficient to. Luna was crouching down behind Lori rubbing her back for comfort as she truly needed it. Lincoln draped his frail legs off the side of the bed where Lori and Luna was and practically dropped himself off of it onto the floor almost making contact with the cold hard ground before Lori caught him instinctively.

"OH MY GOD LINCOLN BE CAREFUL! YOU COULD HAVE HURT YOURSELF!" Lori exclaimed to the brother she had just saved from his plummet to the ground.

"You see Lori, how can you say that you were a horrible sister when you always did what you could to protect me. You were a great sis Lori, you don't give yourself enough credit for what you do."

"That's literally not true Lincoln, I could have been better to you, to all of my siblings, I could hav-"

"Lori You were like the second mother to all of us, you did the best you could for all of us, and you did great." Lincoln finished pulling Lori into a hug from the cradled position he was before.

"You know, you always did know the best thing to say to make a girl feel better Linc." She responded teary eyed as she returned Lincolns hug, after her moment she took notice of the one who had yet to have a moment with the lost member of the family Luna, which she immediately gave the chance to Luna.

"Hey little dude...Its been a while." She choked out stifling a sob.

"Y-yeah...it has been, how are you?" Lincoln questioned with a bittersweet expression.

"What? I should be asking you that dude." she smiled and chuckled at how caring he still is even after all that happened.

"Well, I think im ok. All that matters is that im ok now" Lincoln stated oblivious to the shocked expressions growing on his sisters faces.

"Y-you call this ok?" Lori stated with a shaky breath and a quiver in her lip

"W-well... I I just"

"Lincoln...you're not even close to ok..." Luna spoke over with the same tone as Lori. "You're literally skin and bone...and you think this is OK?!"

"Guys...I am ok...I have you guys...that's all I needed...and now you guys are here..." Lincoln whispered through his fevered throat and ended with a faint but genuine smile.

"Oh Linc." Lori whispered to herself as she started to break down gripping Lincolns fragile frame to her own, Luna doing the same. Lincoln stayed on the floor with his sisters comforting them in their moment of weakness until Rita and Lynn sir came in with the doctor and John who seemed to finish his smoke break.

"Kids I have- wait, what happened to you guys? Are you three ok?" Lynn sir exclaimed with a hint of fear and concern in his tone. Lori sniffled and helped Lincoln back up onto the bed as she explained the situation.

"Yeah dad, were fine. We were just talking"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah pops, just hugging one out"

"Ok good, well we have some great news."

"What is it?" Lori questioned

"we were talking to the doctor, and with johns help we convinced the doctor to release Lincoln early." Lynn sir and Rita had smiles plastered on their faces " Lincoln...You'll be able to come home." Lincoln kept looking back and forth at the faces in the room for validation that he truly heard correctly. Receiving nods from each of his parents, the doctor, and the officer, along with looks of excitement from his two present sisters.

"Really? I can actually...come home?"

"that's right, You can come home, we just need to get a few things ready, and bring you some clothes to change in. Then you can come home." Rita stated, Lincoln cracked a smile at this bit of information.

"I can finally come home...I can finally...come home" He whispered to himself.

"Me and you're father are going home to bring you a change of clothing so you can change out of that gown, so we'll be back soon. ok?" Rita said almost sounding apologetic at the thought of having to leave her child yet responded with a nod to her and gave them a smile. "Lynn sir and Rita came in for one last hug before they departed with Rita giving him a passionate kiss on the cheek as she trailed behind Lynn.

"Lincoln, just so you know, you're not in the best of shape to put it lightly. I'm going to be prescribing you a few heavy supplements to get your body back on track to recovery along with your immune system, and some paroxetine. Your parents have already signed the forms for your release and you are free to go whenever you feel you are able. Make sure to be very careful, drink and eat plenty, I can not stress how much you really desperately need the calories, but aside from all that do you have any questions for me?" The doctor said almost routinely in a monotone way.

"Yeah one...Why is my hair turning white?"

"We haven't found a specific reason to it but you seem to have developed poliosis, it just causes your hair to lose melanin which gave it its natural color, its wont affect your life in any way aside from your hair now growing white, but you will be fine. Any other questions?"

"No. Thank you doc. " The doctor nodded to Lincoln and left the room promptly, presumably to care for another patient.

"well, imma go out too, you guys seem good here, ill see you around Louds." John called out, and before anyone could respond he had left.

With nothing left to do but kill time, Lincoln Luna and Lori all just the spent time talking and reminiscing of earlier times, the good old days for each of them, sharing stories and memories until about an hour later when Lynn sir and Rita finally arrived back to the hospital with the change of clothing they set out to retrieve for Lincoln. With the help of his mother he entered into the bathroom and changed out of his hospital gown into his usual orange polo and blue jeans and white shoes along with a heavy winter coat. Surprisingly though he's grown taller his clothing actually was big on him which was surprising as he was already very thin before. After he finished changing Rita helped him into a wheelchair that Lynn had brought from home that he had from all the injuries that his daughter with the corresponding name would use due to her injuries in extreme sports. He was wheeled through the halls and lobbies getting strange glances all throughout, which he didn't enjoy, until they finally reached the sliding glass doors for the exit. As they all approached their vehicles they all helped Lincoln into the back seat of the antiquated van except for Lynn sir who got to work with putting the wheelchair away. Lori and Luna bid their fair wells to Lincoln and got in the police cruiser parked next to them. Rita got in the back seat With Lincoln and coddled him like a darling child that needs protection. Lori and Luna followed behind them the while ride home while Lynn sir drove, until they all parked in the drive way. Each one unloaded from their respective vehicles except for Lincoln who only stared at the front porch of the house which concerned each of the family who were waiting for him.

"You ready for this sport?"

"Y-Yeah, im ready." He said as he unbuckled his seatbelt to get out.

"Alright" Lynn said as he reached his hand out for Lincoln to take which he did, as he got out of the car he noticed a wooden stick in Lynn sirs other hand with a grip. "Here, this is for you, I honestly have no idea where we got it, but this cane should work good for you if you want to walk around." Lincoln graciously took the cane to try walking a few steps with it. He stumbled a few times over his own feet, with his family quick to try and catch him each time he did, but he quickly got the hang of it and marched onwards to the porch, climbing one step at a time till he was next to the door.

"Ok listen, we told everyone we had someone special coming over and to get the house ready for them, so could you let us go in and get everyone ready to meet our honored guess?" Lynn sir said nudging toward Lincoln.

"Yeah, that sounds Like a good idea dad, you two can go ahead." Lori replied on behalf of everyone, and with that, Lynn sir and Rita took point and entered leaving the trio out in the cold evening.

"Are you excited to see everyone again Linky?" Lori said looking to Lincoln who only looked down and didn't show any signs of even hearing Loris words.

"Bro? I-Is everything alright?" Luna asked in an almost fearful tone.

"W-What I... everyone doesn't like me...I don't even look like my old self... what if they hate what I look like now." Lincoln said with a somber voice leaving Lori and Luna shocked and looking at each other almost looking for confirmation of what they heard, and after a brief moment, they both bombarded him.

"That's crazy talk dude, they Love you! Your our brother, aint nothin gonna change that dude!" Luna retorted

"Yeah, C'mon Lincoln, everyone's been torn up about you being gone! They are gonna be thrilled that you're back" Lori added

"Everyone's gonna be so excited to see you again, no matter what you look like"

"You guys think so?"  
"Of course dude. We love you, all of us. Now and forever." Luna said as she kneeled down at eye level, brushing his bangs out of the way to meet Lincoln's eyes for the first time, taking notice of more scar and grimacing at how painful they must have been to receive, but immediately pushing that expression aside and replacing it with one of caring and sincerity as she gestured him to give her and Lori a hug, which he did eagerly. After their tender moment, they all stood with smiles while holding hands as the door slowly opened, revealing Lynn sr and Rita on the other side speaking to someone out of view of the ones standing outside.

"Ok girls, don't do anything crazy like pounce on him or anything, just be calm, but this is the person we would love for you all to meet." Rita said as Lynn sr. waved the three in with a huge smile on his face, taking his invitation in, the three stepped in, only with Lori and Luna practically shielding Lincoln as they stepped in. Now being in, the girls parted to allow a group of 8 girls look on eagerly at the lone boy with wonderous expressions.

"Girls, this is him, the person we told you all about." Lynn sr said with excitement as he stepped behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder gently. The girls only looking at their father questionably at his odd display of genuine care to who they assumed was a stranger. "This is him...This boy...Is your brother Lincoln."

* * *

 **Hey guys, in this chapter I put a lot of dialogue, more then I put in my last one that's for sure, but I've come across this feeling that the dialogue I put might feel a little forced, I try to put what I think feel a genuine conversation could be like but I feel like its coming short, and there's nothing I hate more than forced dialogue in reading, it feels awkward, like robots are chatting to each other, I guess I see now why its so hard, but anyway, I would love to know in the reviews what you guys thought about it. Did it seem genuine, or fake? because I honestly don't know. But thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I'm sorry for the long wait, ill try to make it wait shorter next time, and If there are any mistakes in this, I'm sorry, its like 3 in the morning as I'm typing this up so I'm tired as hell, just let me know and ill go back and fix it, thank you all I love you.**


	3. Hearts of Glass: House Warming

**Wow...I have nothing to say but im sorry for the long wait friends. I've been kinda busy, with school and all, but now I'm finally done, and I'm here to bring you another chapter, I really hope that I didn't make you all wait too long for it, and I hope that anyone new to the story will enjoy this chapter, because in all honesty, I tried my best in it, but this is a chapter ive dreaded to get to, as the "Lincolns back home" chapter in stories where Lincoln returns are usually pretty cookie cutter, (not trying to call any stories out, it all just follows a formula that works pretty well as that's why we see it so often) and I was hoping to make something a little more unique and less...well...'forgettable' because if its not something that's inspired and different, what's the point. So instead of giving a straight chapter with just the re-acquainting, I thought I should show a little bit of the dynamic of the rest pf the characters in the Loud House.**

 **I truly hope I have delivered something worth enjoying to the people who decide to make it this far into the story and if so please feel free to let me know, and if you've not enjoyed it, I would love to hear even more what you disliked about this story. I feel its personally easier to learn from mistakes and improve upon what I've done wrong so please, if you don't mind putting a little bit of your time in, PM me or leave a review, it would help a bunch and hopefully in return I can deliver a more satisfyingly product here, and without further ado, here's chapter 3.**

 **Chapter 3: House Warming**

"c'mon guys! Look I know it sucks, but mom and dad said that we would be having an important guest coming over today, so can we just chear up and try to pull through for today, at least just for tonight?" Luan pleaded as she shook the small note in her hand for emphasis, as she attempted to reason with the miniature mob before her.

The louds have grown quite a bit over the past five years, some seemingly for the better, but others drastically different from their former selves, as if they had seen better days. The eldest of the sisters present was one clear example of how they had changed. Leni, the second oldest of the Louds, who had once been all about fashion, following every latest trend abandoned her passion entirely. She swapped out her long green dress and slippers for a staggeringly different appearance. She wore an extra large black jacket that absolutely did not fit her rather slender physic. She would rarely be found without her hoodie up covering a majority of her face, with unkempt hair draping down over her face almost like a curtain of blond hiding her away, The sleeves were comically long, so long that they would need to be rolled up a few times just to be able to see the tips of her fingers, which she never did, instead using its length to glove her hands and then some. As if it wasn't enough, the jacket also reached all the way down to her mid thighs, about as long as her dress used to. Paired with the overly sized jacket was a pair of dark green sweat pants that also were very large for someone of her stature. The baggy sweat pants seemed as if they were only being held up by the waist band that hung all the way down to her knees, and for her foot wear, she had none, she barely ever put forth the effort to wear even sandals on most days.

Luan on the other hand had matured greatly, physically and mentally. She had grown taller than most of her sister, rivalling the height of her eldest sister Lori. Though she had physically grown drastically over the years, she had stayed true to her original appearance with slight deviations. Her brunette brunet her is kept in her usual pony tail that now reached down to her mid back, and her taste in clothing was almost identical, only now more modest, swapping her usual sleeveless top for a long sleeved white button down without the fake flower from before, with a long checkered yellow skirt paired with long black stockings that left little to none of her lower half visible, and for her foot wear, regular brown shoes similar to her previous ones but without the flower as well.

Lynn hadn't actually grown much taller than she was before, and she seemingly hade gone through the least amount of change from the rest of the sisters, appearance wise. Her physique hade improved from being more slender to being more tone, even a bit muscular. Her hair style hadn't really changed, she made sure to keep her hair to the length it was before and to always keep it behind her in a pony tail to not get in her way. She sported a red sport jacket which seemed to complement her physical gains by showing off most of her muscles, with the jacket she wore a pair of red and black striped adidas sweat pants and running shoes.

Lucy was another that seemed to mature greatly over time, its to be expected since people seemingly change much more the younger they are. She had grown out her hair much longer than it was before, bet never let the bangs that covered her eyes to grow long enough to cover her face entirely by trimming them. She wore a long sleeveless black dress that reached down to her ankles paired with a set of black and white sleeves that start where the dress she wears doesn't cover and ends with specifically tailored finger holes that allowed them to double their purpose to gloves. she also wore a set of generic gothic rings, things that most people would expect to be found at any shop that carries such articles like hot topic. and for her foot wear a pair of dull black shoes. she wore all her outfit as if she truly wanted to go by unnoticed in the world, as she usually had.

Lola who had always been the beauty pageant princess type of girl, but she had ended up shifting away from her hobbies and passions. She looked almost unrecognizable from who she once was, the little girl who wore long pretty pink dresses and dazzling tiaras now looked ordinary in every way imaginable. The clothing she wore was mundane and average for a girl her age. She wore a light pink tee shirt that seemed to be a size to big, most likely from it being a hand me down from one of her elder sisters, along with a pair of blue jean shorts that had its ends folded inside out for a little stile. Gone were the days where shed pretty herself us by doing her hair, and wearing make up. Now she was just an average looking pre teen.

Lana continued to be an absolute tomboy as she always has. Though she's kept her mentality almost identical from her earlier days, she has outgrown some of her more disgusting habits that she had, but despite growing and maturing, she hasn't lost her spirit. She mostly wears the same things she used to. she continues to wear overalls with her staple teal shirt, and though she kept her appearance almost identical, she had ditched the usual red hat she used to wear when she was younger.

Lisa was yet another of the Loud sisters who had stuck with their original aesthetic from before. The same old green turtle neck that she usually wore that covered her arms and neck almost entirely, with the same baggy brown pants. She still wore the same thick lensed pair of glasses, and messy hair as usual, the only exception to her keeping up with her appearance was a long white lab coat that barely grazed the ground as she walked.

As for the last Loud sibling, Lily, she had the most drastic change happened, though its to be expected from growing being a baby to being a young child. She had grown to be quite the optimist, always looking to share joy and happiness with those around her, she had also become quite perceptive and intelligent. Her clothing consisted mostly of hand me downs. She wore one of Lana's old overalls as her main piece of clothing, and for a top she wore one of Lunas older shirts as well, a dark purple tee shirt. Her hair stile was short and messy, with a prominent tuff of blond hair sticking up in the back.

"What's the point? Why should we have to decorate? It would just be a waist of time to put it all up, plus its gonna be so much work for nothing." The jock interjected with attitude.

"Its not like the decorations will stay up for long anyway, you know that moms just gonna tell us to take them down." Lola added.

"I'm sorry dear siblings, but have better things to do with my time than spend my time than to pointlessly garnish our residence with menial trinkets!" Lisa ended with an adjustment of her glasses in a snobby gesture of superiority.

"Guys c'mon, dad wouldn't ask us to do this if it wasn't important. Were having someone over, so we should make the house look nice for them!" Luan tried to plead in response.

"whoever it is, im sure its nobody we know, mom and dad haven't had anyone over in years, so why should we care about trying to impress them?" Asked Lola in a matter of fact tone.

"Please guys, cant we just pull through, and just enjoy the holidays without a fuss for once?" Luan was practically begging the group in front of her only to be met with opposition.

"Sorry sis, but its just not gonna happen." Lynn replied uncaringly, and immediately turned away and ascended the steps behind her to leave, with a pack following behind her.

"Come on guys...its Christmas..."Luan practically whispered out in a pathetic whimper before sighing and retreating to the couch for a breather. Luan was frustrated, digging through the box of decorations before her and packing up each item one by one, until she stopped at the last one and hung her head in shame to wallow in her own pity and frustration in herself for failing to bring everyone together.

"Luan...what's that in your hand?" spoke a curious little voice breaking Luan from her small trance to look up to the one who approached her.

"Oh Lily, this is..." She paused to survey the item in her hand. "This is called a mistletoe."

"Oh, its very pretty." Lily responded, pleased to find out what it was. "And what's the rest of this stuff?" she prodded as she dug through the box of festive paraphernalia before her.

"Oh that's just a bunch of Christmas decorations." Luan said as she tossed the mistletoe back in the box.

"Wow we had all this stuff all along? I've never seen them in real life before! Just in movies" Lily sounded like the most awe struck child in the world, and Luan was taken aback, she had realized, Lily hadn't seen the decorations up since she was just a baby, far to young to remember what it looked like, and this broke Luan's heart to realize this, in her entire life, Lily had never seen what the house looked like with the Christmas decorations when she was old enough to remember it. Right then and there Luan made a promise to herself that she would decorate the house for lily, so she could see how wonderful the house looked in real life during the Christmas season.

"Lily listen, how would you like to help me hang all these decorations, so you can see what its like in person."

"Wow you mean that we can make the house as pretty as the ones in the movies?" Lilys eyes lit up in amazement at the prospect.

"You bet ya. actually no, it will look even better than the movies! I swear!"

"Really?!"

"I swear." Luan ended as she stood up to immediately get started but was quickly tackled in the biggest tightest bear hug Lily could muster for a girl her age.

"Thank you thank you thaaaank you!" Lily chanted over and over in glee.

"Anything for you Lily." Luan said as she patted her head, until her attention was beckoned by another voice.

"Hey Luan...uh, can I help decorate too?" Asked the tomboy in a gingerly tone, very uncharacteristic for the tomboy. Luan and Lily looked at each other with serious and emotionless expressions, before breaking into a small bit of laughter in agreement before they approached Lana, Luan then crouched down to eye level with Lana and patted her head approvingly.

"Of course you can, we could use all the help we can get."

"Then can I help too?" The goth unexpectedly interjected without warning, causing the rest to jolt in fear from her unexpected entrance, after which Luan composed herself and chuckled off the spook.

"Oh hey Lucy, yeah I meant it. Thank you, I really appreciate all the help you guys are giving." Luan replied to the heart tugging display.

"Of course sis, we really miss what Christmas used to look like too." Lana added.

"Well we better get started, we have a lot of work to do, not all that much time left to do it in" Luan finished, to everyone's delight, they started on decorating the house, slowly but surely, they made progress forward. Though it wasn't anywhere near as grand as the house used to look, it had started to feel a little like Christmas again in the loud house. Though it took time, they emptied each box brought down from the attic one by one. A few lights strung up following the base boards along the floor, streamers strung up and hanging from the roof, table decorations were placed, holiday occasion appropriate silver wear, table cloth, and other dinner wear were set at the table, and so on. They each worked as hard as they could to make this a special Christmas regardless of their parents orders, but more for themselves, and each other.

As the group of four continued to deck the halls, making the house noticeably more lively, they attracted the attention of the previously unwilling participants from before. One by one they each became enraptured by the jolly sights before them. First it was Lola, her sisters disappearance coupled with the commotion happening down stairs peaked her curiosity and brought her down stairs, there she found the source of the racket and where her sister disappeared off to. After stumbling upon the scene of the rest working so diligently to bring the festivities back into the house, she could only feel amazed at what the four had accomplished in such a short time, especially to the efforts of her closest sister. The amazement quickly turned to shame, as she had left her own sisters to pick up the slack while she had been lounging around. Lola, not one to be outdone by her sister, offered her assistance in the task and immediately went on working as hard as she could to catch up at take on her fair share.

Next was Leni, though she was indifferent before, she had seen the happiness this had brought to those involved, Lily's marvel over any and every detail, Lucy's uncanny yet wonderful grin that she wore in rare occurrences, the twins drive to one up each other in their individual tasks, and Luan's grace and care in looking over everyone there, each of there things were a driving bit of motivation for her to put her all as well, and so she did too, to everyone's surprise, she rarely made an effort in most things now a days, but for this task, she pulled out all the stops, ascending the entirety of the house with her effort, and to everyone else's amazement, it seemed as if hints of the old fashionista began to shine through in these moments through her passion of interior design and decoration.

To Lisa's surprise, the house looked wonderful, though it had much work left to be done, it had started to feel less like the house she knew and more like the home she remembered. Lisa couldn't quite explain what it was about Christmas that brought people joy, and the feeling of communion, but she was no exception to it. As she continued tinkering with whatever little experiment or gadget she was working on, she continued to peak at the progress of the sisters on the cameras she had installed throughout the house, continuously being impressed time and time again by the growing group. Little did she know that the Christmas spirit slowly enraptured her with each passing moment till she finally gave in and decided to help as well, of course with her stoic demeanor she played off her participation as "an opportunity to further research of primitive western traditions." which fooled nobody, regardless, they were happy to have yet another set of hands in the on going familial project of practically renovating the entire house with decorations.

And finally, Lynn was left. With little to do in an empty room, she tried quenching her boredom at first with her phone and games she had added over time, which failed to entertain her with their repetitive nature, so then she moved on to exorcise, this lasted longer for her, but again there's only so much one can do in an empty room, then she tried laying down for a short nap, but as usual, sleep seemed to elude her, and finally after exhausting all her options of keeping herself occupied she succumbed to her boredom and left her room in search for sustenance. Immediately after leaving the room she came into contact with the awe inspiring sight of the well decorated halls, along with a great aroma that pulled her by her nose with curiosity of the wonderful smell, it was a very nostalgic aroma that filled the halls, and she noticed the source of the smell when she reached the bottom of the stairs. A grand pine tree erected in the corner near the fire place was the source if the strong scent that spread throughout the house. It was nothing short of amazing to not only her but the rest that had helped put it in place as there hadn't been one in the house for years. As the rest stared at the bare tree, Lynn stifled silently through the boxes to find the ornaments and lights to string up, only being noticed as she approached the tree, and to everyone's delight she had started in assisting in the decorating, though they would be upset at the late assistance, they all accepted her with open arms just happy to have her assist in the small family project. Though at first she was conflicted with joining, she too was just happy to partake in the joy of the holiday spirit with the people she cared for most.

Hours passed,since the last loud sister joined in to help decorate and what would have taken the original squad of four to decorate the house, only took the entire group of sisters a fraction of the time, with everyone cohesively working together for the common goal. Each of the girls couldn't remember the last time they had all worked together so well, mostly without problems. Despite how long it did take, in the end each sister felt proud of what they had helped to achieve that day, and above all else, it was worth it for them to see the youngest of the sisters reaction, Lily was beaming to say the least, and everyone was beyond satisfied with the result, it was Lily's true first Christmas, and despite everyone's initial reactions, they all agreed that it was worth it to see Lily so happy.

"Hey guys, we got one more box." Lana called out as she descended the stairs with a fairly small box in hand, grabbing the attention from the girls who were practically ogling at their work. She proceeded to then place it on the small wooden coffee table in the middle of the living room on whatever space she could find that wasn't cluttered with decorations.

"What's in it" Prodded her twin sister.

"I don't know, but it was where we found the other Christmas stuff." Lana replied

"Well there's only one way to find out." Lilly boldly stated as she approached the box and waisted no time opening it. Once opened the group peered into the box to find a familiar sight. Luan was the first to reach in and pulled out what seemed to be a bright yellow stocking. and at the sight, the rest dug through the box with glee to find their respective stockings. Lilly pulling a bright white one with her name stitched into it. Lana following after Lily with her blue and red stocking, and Lola with a bright pink one that shed glitter as it was pulled out of the box, then Lisa with an almost lime green colored stocking, Lynn was next to retrieve her red and white stocking, then Lucy picked up her black and white one, as the box nearly emptied Lenie picked up a handful for the remaining sisters and parents that weren't present to retrieve their own along with her light colored stocking. After all the stockings were hung Luan proceeded to pick up the box and prepare it to be put away, until she noticed there was one left which she took in her hand and set down the box. With the last stocking in hand she marched toward the fire place and made a spot in the center for the stocking, right where its always been. Silence ensued as each girl noticed the familiar orange cloth being nailed up on the fire place, everyone stared fondly at the final piece that had been placed up, reminiscing of the one whom it belonged to. Before it felt as if something was missing, but now it felt at least a shred more complete to have the memory of the missing member up. The thing that broke the trance was Lily who discretely asked Luan if they could make hot chocolate for everyone to thank them for their hard work. They broke off and proceeded to do so, capturing the rest of the sisters chocoholic like behaviors and bringing the rest of them to the kitchen to receive their cups.

The pack of girls wire in the Living room enjoying the delicious cups of hot coco with marshmallows, sharing stories, mostly of the long lost Loud with the youngest of the group, as she hadn't ever really been old enough to form memories with the boy. They all laughed and joked like never before, and if was wonderful for all of them, any feelings of reluctance were long gone and everyone was enjoying themselves in each others company.

"Hey Leni, remember that time that Lincoln was little and he ate some apple seeds and he was freaking out thinking that an entire tree would grow inside of him?" Luan said giggling at the memory as the others would either keep smiles on their faces, sip their drinks, or laugh along at the story.

"Yeah, and he wouldn't believe us no matter what we told him, so you me and Lori ate some to prove it to him." Leni ended with a chuckle.

"So what was he like when he was older?" Lily asked her elder sisters curious about the boy she never got to know personally.

"He was always very caring, he'd always put down whatever he was doing and help the rest of us with what ever we needed it." Leni replied in a bittersweet tone

"He helped all of us a lot, and cared for us a lot, maybe more than we deserved, but he did it anyway, he actually taught me to read was I was a little younger than you are now." Lola sighed at the memory, staring at the cup of coco in her hand.

"He actually almost got in a lot of trouble once when he helped me save a bunch of frogs that were goanna be desuckted or something."

"I believe the word you are looking for is dissected" Lisa stated in her usual snooty tone.

"Yeah whatever she said." Lana replied smugly.

"He helped me win a few pageants when I was younger." Lola added.

"He also lent me his assistance in a few research studies and experiments I had been working on." Lisa interjected.

"He'd also help me whenever I had a big show at birthday parties." Luan said with fondness.

"He like totes modeled for me whenever I needed someone to test out a new outfit." Leni finished smiling. Lily was left awestruck at the storied of the living legend that her elder sisters spoke of.

"Wow, he must have been amazing!" Lily said more toward herself, but loud enough for the rest of them to hear, all sisters gave silent nods in agreement. Though she learned more and more about him that night, she didn't know much to begin with. The topic of Lincoln seldom came up, and it was even rarer to hear about what happened to him, she knew better than to push for answers on this subject, everyone seemed to get dense and on edge whenever he came up, so she just kept it to herself, but what she really wanted to know, was what happened to him. But she knew it would probably bring up some bad memories, 'there's a time and a place' she thought to herself, answers would come eventually.

"I really wish you got to meet him Lily, you two would have-" Luan was cut off by the long screech that seemed to halt in the driveway, which caught everyone's attention. The two eldest sisters quickly headed to the windows to take a peak at who it was. "Looks like mom and dad are home... and so are Luna and Lori!" Luan spotted the old rustic van that had pulled up along side a black and white police force mustang. Everyone was surprised and excited to hear about the rest of the family's return. Almost immediately after, the front door was unlocked and in stepped Lynn sr. and his wife Rita, After they took a moment to warm themselves following their escape from the harsh cold outside the beckoned his daughters over from their respective places in the living room.

"Girls listen, the- wow you guys did a great job here!" Lynn sr. said as he panned around quickly taking in the jolly atmosphere around him as Ritta did the same. "anyway, the guest is about to come in, make sure to give him a warm welcome, but try not to get too excited, ok?"

"Hes gonna be a little nervous to see so many people so please be very careful with him. ok?" Rita followed up only to be hit back with a barrage of questions in return.

"who is this guy anyway?"

"Do we know him?"

"How come you guys brought someone over "

"why'd you ask us to decorate for em? are they someone special"

The questions came one after another not even giving the pair an opportunity to answer until Rita spoke up in an effort to hush the girls long enough for them to speak.

"Girls just hang on for a minute, your questions will be answered when he comes in!" Rita said in a higher tone not to yell but just to be heard by the rest, and as she did so, Lynn rushed to the door that opened and waved in someone unseen from the other side of the door, grabbing the groups attention. "Ok girls, don't do anything crazy like pounce on him or anything, just be calm, but this is the person we would love for you all to meet." Lynn sr. Lori and Luna walked in almost as if they were hiding the biggest surprise behind them, all with smiles in their faces.

"Girls, this is him, the person we told you about." Lynn sr. then turned one and laid his hand gently on the boys shoulder while giving him a warm smile, confusing the group of girls at their fathers odd display of familiarity to whom they thought was a stranger. "This is him...This boy...Is your brother Lincoln."

The girls watched with bated breath as Lincoln brought up one of his hands to his winter coats hoodie and gently lifted it from his head revealing his face, and every gruesome scare it held. All the girls gasped in shock at the sight, at how different he looked, at how drastically he had changed. None could find the first words to say to break the silence, leaving a dreary atmosphere. The eldest who'd escorted Lincoln began looking at each other uncomfortably as if looking for answers of what to do, though it looked like nobody knew exactly what to do.

"Linky...Is that really you?" Leni was the first to step forward up to Lincoln. She brought her hand up to his face, hesitantly, as if she was afraid that touching him would make him disappear as if he were a mirage.

"Leni?... Im...Im…" Lincolns voice cracked as he reached his withered hand to meet hers which he softly grasped in his own cold shivering palm. "Im sorry for everything I said...Im sorry for leaving you all, im sorry I wasn't here... Im so so sorr-" Lincoln was cut of by Lennie taking hold of Lincoln and giving him the best bear hug she could at the same time being careful not to hurt his frail body.

"Linky! I don't care about any of that! Just please don't go away again! I don't wanna loose my Linky again! Please promise me! I don't want to loose you again!" Leni cried out as she burrowed her face into Lincolns head holding him tightly to her own body as if letting him go would mean loosing him forever.

"Im so sorry Leni...I wont leave again I promise...I wont go anywhere..." Lincoln practically pleaded back almost as if he was begging for it not to happen, letting her elder sister cry her heart out for as long as she needed, and everyone waited patiently for her to do so. Finally when she was done she brought Lincoln from her bosom and stroked his hair gently for a moment before wiping her eyes and smiling.

"Ive missed you so much Linky… Please don't leave us again..."

"I promise Leni...I wont do that ever again..." Lincoln finished with one more hug with Leni before turning his attention to the two figures approaching him, he came down on one knee with the help of his cane to be at eye level of the two.

"Lincoln... Do you...Remember us?" Lana asked almost afraid to hear the answer, they were both young when they last seen Lincoln, they had wondered if they would even be remembered giving that they had a shorter amount of time together than their elder sisters.

"Lola...How could I ever forget about you two...My favorite little pair of twins..." Upon hearing this, both of the twins practically tackled him, not will full force but enough to make leave him staggering from the impact, but after he laid his cane down and wrapped the two up with his arms giving the tightest hug he could in return. "God...Look how big you to have gotten without me...I missed watching you guys grow up...Im sorry I wasn't there..."

"You dummy its not your fault! It wasn't your fault! We should have been better! I should have been nicer to you! I'm so sorry Lincoln!" Lola yelled between her sobs as she burrowed her face into Lincolns coat.

"Lola...Listen to me...You were all perfect the way you are...I love you just the way you are...Don't ever doubt it..." Lincoln

"Lin-coln..." Lola and Lana both weakly choked out in unison as they continued to cry on him. They, just like her elder sister also took their time releasing all the pain they have kept, along with their regret, because now finally, they had the one of the ones they cared for most back in their lives. After the twins had their moment, they reluctantly broke from their embrace with Lincoln ending with him giving them each pats on their head before they went and rejoined with Lennie, comforting each other all the while. Lincoln turned his attention to the front of the remaining group right as another sister waisted no time stepping forward.

"Link...Your back...I cant believe it...your...actually here..." Luan said as she gently grazed her hands around Lincolns body and pulled him to her body to confirm that he was there. "Your...here...your actually here..." She whispered to herself as she teared up.

"I'm here Luan...I'm home..."

"hehe..." Luan chuckled faintly as she stroked Lincolns hair.

"What's so funny?" Lincoln asked jokingly.

"Its...*sniff* Its nothing... I'm just so glad your home...I've waited so long for this...To see you again..."

"Me too..."

Luan knelt down and held Lincolns cheeks in the palms of her hands, giving him a eye watery smile as she brushed some of his brunet and silver hair away to be able to see his eyes clearly. She gave him the biggest teary eyed smile she could, Lincoln only Looked down in embarrassment, doing double and even triple takes of Luan's face, she payed his nervous ticks no mind, all that metered was that she had him back, her precious baby brother back in her arms, and with a light sniffle she wiped her tears away and realized how'd shed hogged him all to herself when there were other sisters eager to reacquaint the boy, and with that she gave Lincoln one more hug and joined up with the ones who had their moment already.

Lincoln grabbed his cane and with some difficulty propped himself up as best he could, after which he approached the second youngest of the family who only watched as he approached, not even realizing the dumbfounded expression plastered on her face, nor caring to adjust it when he knelt down again to reach eye level with her.

"Do my eyes deceive me? This isn't a vivid sleep cycle hallucination is it?" Lisa asked is disbelief more to herself than anything as she weakly reached her arms up to grasp at his coat. Lincoln closed his eyes and nodded in disagreement.

"No...Im really here Lis-!" Lincoln couldn't even hope to see it coming, the immediate pressure of a tackle on to his chest that left him reeling for a moment before he looked down to the source of the impact to his chest. Seeing that his Little sister who was usually so stoic and prideful to be teary eyed and crying lightly on his chest like a little girl left him surprised, but he immediately shook of his wonderment to comfort her.

"I had assumed that you had perished, I never thought I would be able to see you with my own eyes...Forgive me Lincoln...Forgive me..."

"There's nothing to forgive Lisa...Its not your fault..."

"I should have believed that you would some day return...I should have had faith...Im sorry I lost it..."

"Its ok...I lost faith too...that I would ever see any of you again...I didn't think I would ever come back...I thought I would die before I ever got the chance. But im here now, I'm back...Im home..." Lisa who always had an aura of stoicism about her crumbled in to an emotional wreck in the arms of her long lost brother. She had been haunted by her failure of finding her beloved older brother, to her, what good was all the intelligence in the world if it couldn't be used to help the ones she cared for most, but now, the one shed been missing in her life had finally returned, and all she could feel was joy for it. When time came that she finally composed herself, she had wiped her tear stained cheeks, and despite having so much to say and ask, she came to the conclusion that there would be time later, Lincoln was back, and he wasn't going anywhere. After embracing him once more she returned to her default stoic demeanor, (or tried to, to the best of her ability given the circumstances,) she had parted and joined the steadily increasing group of family members. Lincoln meanwhile stood still to a timidly approaching little Loud who seemed almost afraid to look up and make eye contact as she steadily marched on forward to the boy who still stayed down on his knees already taking notice of the girl with the familiar blond tuft of blond hair he had remembered on his youngest sister. Once she finished her slow walk, seemingly buying time for something on her mind, she paused in front of him, tracing his body with amusement as if she were standing in front of a living legend. She finally spoke when she could find the words to utter out a question.

"Are you really my big brother?" She asked in anticipation looking back and forth between the ground while hiding her arms behind her back as if she was trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible all the while checking for an answer, until he did, with a soft smile and a small nod to which her expression changed from that of a timid and nervous one to one beaming with awe and wonderment.

"Do you remember me?" Lincoln asked already practically knowing the answer, but curious to if she could still recall memories from the younger age she was. To this, she only drooped her head and shook her head in disagreement with an expression that spelt shame in herself for not recalling such an important person in her life.

"No...I...I'm sorry...I cant remember you..." She replied in a somber tone.

"Hey hey its ok..." Lincoln tried to say in the most comforting voice he could muster. "its not your fault...You were just too young to remember me."

"I know I had an older brother, my older sisters told me so, but I never remembered. I'm sorry."

"Hey its ok now...I'm here, and now we can make plenty of memories together now that your old enough to remember."

"R-really!?" Lilly lifted her head slightly gazing at him with apologetic eyes threw her lowered gaze.

"Mm hmm" Was all Lincoln had to say because in the next moment she down into him with bubbly and infectious joy which left everyone in the room with smiles as they watched the heart warming display. After Receiving a flurry of thanks and hugs, which Lincoln returned whole heartedly every time, from the girl shed happily skipped onward to the group, blissfully ignorant to the few tears of joy shed brought out of a few of the older ones in the group as she was so pre occupied with the notion that she had an older brother back in her life. After watching Lily skip away Lincoln once again propped himself up with his cane and turned toward the last set of remaining Louds he had yet to great and without hesitation 'walked' forward to them who seemed as if they couldn't bear to bring their gaze up from the ground, and became more and more anxious each step he took in his approach.

"...Lynn...Lucie..." Lincoln spoke softly and with great care, yet hearing the voice it came from made both of them flinch, which didn't go unnoticed by Lincoln, taking a moment further to analyze the two, to took note of their shaky breaths, quivering hands, and expressions of horror, but not directed toward him. When he opened his mouth to speak he was cut of by one of them who beat him to it.

"Its all my fault..." Came a voice usually shrouded by monotone and indifference, but instead cracked with sorrow and dread.

"What are you ta-"

"Come on Lincoln...Look at what's happened to you...Look what we did to you...Its all our fault...Its...all my...fault..."

"Lucy...what happened was not your fault...it wasn't any ones fault... Things just happen..."

"No its all because of me...I should have been nicer to you...I should have realized how foolish I was being... How selfish..."

"Its no wonder you'd hate us..." Lynn interjected. "I would too... we don't deserve your forgiveness...we deserve hell for what we did...We should have been better to you, all you ever did was help and in return all we ever did was hurt you, what kind of sister does that to their own brother...we dint even deserve to be called sisters..."

"I should have never said what I did...I'm sorry...I hope you can forgive me" Lincoln spoke apologetically catching the pair of guard which he capitalized on by continuing on. "I could never hate you too...Your my family..." He added dropping his cane, startling everyone as they heard the loud smack it left as it hit the floor, as he took both of the girls into each arm.

"what are you apologizing for...were the ones who treated you so horribly..."

"I still shouldn't have ever said I hated you, please forgive me."

"We should be the ones on our knees begging for forgiveness" Lucy choked out as her eyes began to water.

"That's not necessary Lucy. I already forgive you."

"But we were so awful...We brought nothing but difficulty in your life." Lucy said as she clutched a piece of Lincolns coat in her hands as she rested her head on Lincolns chest.

"I forgive you." He repeated.

"But we don't deserve it." Lynn retorted.

"I still forgive you." Lincoln said bringing them into a tighter hug.

"But because of us, you've been hurt so much."

"Its ok...I forgive you anyway."

"How could it possibly be ok with us after all we did...why..." Lucy whimpered out pathetically more than questioned, burrowing her face into the crook of Lincolns neck.

"Because your my sisters...and I Love you."

That all but did it for the two sisters, the tears they had tried to hold back came flooding out like a burst dam. For years they had held on to the weight of being the reason Lincoln went missing, and they hated themselves for it. But today, to hear that the person they had hurt most had returned, and had forgiven them, was all they needed to completely break down. No matter how hard they'd tried, they could never forgive themselves, but finally, after 5 long years, they heard the words they needed to hear, ' forgive you' from the person they needed to hear them most from, their long lost brother, and now, finally, they can start to forgive themselves, and make it up the brother they had wronged.

And that's the end of that chapter. I aint gonna Lie, this was probably the hardest chapter to write yet, and I almost gave up on it this story entirely because of it. I didn't think that writing would be all that hard if I was creative enough to know how I wanted a story to flow but I realize now how hard it actually is, especially by yourself, And if throughout the chapter you noticed varying levels of quality all I can say is taking a break and reading other peoples fic's on this sight gives me new inspiration to continue, especially ones that are well written, and for this chapter I started drawing inspiration from possibly one of the best writers I've seen yet, and the stories ive read that helped me have the drive to finish this chapter is omegainfinity. The author behind (in my personal opinion ) one of the most well written fan fic's in the Loud House section so far, "Lincoln Loud's Loud House Survival Guide, I personally cant recommend it enough, please show it pleanty of love if you can, and maybe the author will get around to actually finishing it. But anyway, the nagging in my head wouldn't let me forget about this story and I feel almost obligated to at least finish it as long as people actually show an interest in it. I've been let down like many others on this site, when reading a great story only to see in abandoned and see the months turn into years, I don't wanna disappoint anybody, so if anyone actually enjoys this story, I wont quit it. So if you are one of those people, please feel free to make yourself known by leaving a review, or a PM or even a follow. Please make sure to voice what you liked and disliked, all criticism helps, and if you could add ways to improve it would be greatly appreciated. Until next time. Bye.

Also after having a few people point out that I may or may not have misspelled a name, I went back and maybe or maybe not fixed it wherever I found it.


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